The Mothership mom
by Gardner295
Summary: As the Kushan start their journey, Karan S'jet strives to find a balance between cold Fleet Command and caring leader.


**Hi. I recently started playing Deserts of Kharak and got sucked back into the Homeworld 1 campaign. I want to tell parts of the original story through Karan's eyes, adding one or two OC (I'm kinda forced since we only get three named characters in the first game) to develop her more.**

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Chapter I

"Blue Leader, you got one on your tail!"

"Copy that, evasive manoeuvres engaged. Thank you Blue Five."

"We got bombers incoming! Assault frigates, form a wall in front of the Mothership!"

"This is a cakewalk."

With the voices of the fleet echoing through her mind, Karan S'jet was completely absorbed into the fight. Inside her filled tank, dozens of flashy alerts and diagrams were popping up everywhere. The hum of the Mothership's reactors, rigged for full power during combat, was shaking her body.

Her entire self was dedicated to manage and direct the ships fighting around her.

She couldn't allow herself to feel anything as she ordered three ion cannon frigates to focus fire on that alien frigates. Through the Mothership's sensors, her powerful eyes, she could see the lethal red beams chew through the hulls and bulkheads.

Screams from intercepted enemy comms were beginning to sound desperate, but Karan did not hesitate in silencing every single one of those voices.

"Fleet Command, this is Red Leader, we're low on fuel, we request assistance over."

"Roger, go for another bombing run on that frigate then dock for refuelling."

"Copy Command we'll do our best. Over and out."

The enemy fleet was in disarray. Though at the beginning superior in numbers, skilful tactics and a good use of salvage corvettes had shifted the balance in the Kushan's favour.

The battlefield had gained something resembling order: strike crafts locked in furious dogfighting and frigates bombarding each other dotted the space in front of the Mothership, each ship finding its spot in the rampage.

"Command! This is the frigate Jaraci. We got an enemy destroyer firing at us! We can't hold! Please, what do we do?! Help us over!"

"Jaraci, focus your fire on your initial target and maintain your position. Allied strike crafts incoming."

"Oh Sajuuk! We got a hull breach! They're tearing us apart! Oh Sajuuk...Oh my...I don't wanna die!"

"Jaraci calm down!" Panning over the frigate, Karan saw a pack of ion frigates engaged with a menacing starship. The Jaraci was under heavy Ion and kinetic fire. Plasma was venting from the engines and multiple holes dotted the armour. The sensor overlay displayed damage reports, giving the troubled ship five minutes at best.

A couple of Kushan assault frigates were blasting fighters a dozen kilometres away, one already igniting its engines to close in with the Jaraci.

"Okay Jaraci listen up. I want you to keep firing on the enemy destroyer. Use your retro thrusters and start backing. Two assault frigates are coming to escort you and a squadron of salvage corvettes is coming your way. Do not alter your course: the frigates will keep the destroyer busy, hopefully the enemy won't notice those 'vettes as they come from above you and we'll catch them by surprise. Do you understand, Jaraci?"

After a slight pause, the interference riddled radio of the frigate spoke up.

"Roger that Command. Course set."

The sensors pinged as the frigate started moving backwards.

Karan issued the orders to the other ships.

For a moment Karan felt her heart stop as the Destroyer's cannons started tracking the small crafts headed its way, but the Jaraci swiftly fired on the turrets, stopping one on its track and giving time for the corvettes to dock.

"Jaraci this is Fleet Command. Good job. Move towards the Mothership's docking bay. A repair corvette is being prepped for launch."

"Copy that Fleet. Thank you."

"Don't let fear overcome you again. Trust your ship and your allies."

"Yes Command. Sorry. Over and out."

The battle quickly turned into a chase to an imposing carrier. Fighters were still spilling from the wide hangar doors, hoping to slow the Exiles' advance.

After a desperate defence the enemy was quickly overrun. To save the carrier from being captured, enemy resource collectors dived for the salvage corvettes, destroying two before Karan gave the order to destroy the ship.

Finally, it was done.

The fleet that burned Kharak was now in ruins.

The woman relaxed in her tank, running a thorough check on all systems and contacting fleet leaders.

With a sigh of relief she silently listened to the chatter around her.

"Attack complete. Holding patterns locked in."

"Belay that, return to base and dock for repairs and refuel."

Even from her armoured tank, she could feel the tension leave her crew's bodies, their voices becoming more and more cheerful.

"By the way Malak. Why do you always say 'this is a cakewalk'?"

"I dunno man, it was a cakewalk."

"Yeah, like hell it was. Those assault frigates were tearing us apart! And why cakewalk? It's such a stupid..."

"Green Three, Green Four. This is a military channel, not your mess hall. Shut up."

Karan smiled at the conversation.

The morale was high, for people who just lost their entire planet.

 _Kharak._

The image of her burning home was impressed in her mind, forever kept in the Mothership's database.

She forced herself to focus on the docking procedures, accounting for all remaining ships.

From a logistic point of view, it was nearly perfect.

Two enemy destroyers, three assault frigates and a collector captured, dozens of strike crafts destroyed and fifteen frigates sunk, plus the carrier and its support crafts against two interceptor squadrons and two Ion Array frigates.

But now, without the cold determination she had during the battle, Karan felt the loss of every single Kushan.

She did not feel pity for those she had slain in revenge. She felt sadness for such hatred, fear of what was waiting for them and determination to overcome it.

She spent the next hours overseeing the repairs, idly checking on the resource team chatter with the collectors and managing basic maintenance and standard computer functions.

A faint alarm beeped in the back of her head.

She quickly answered, opening a private link to one of the officers' cabin.

"Hello Fleet Command."

The tired face of a young man was smiling at her.

"Hi, Amir." She smiled back.

Or at least, that was she thought she'd do. The ship officer was staring at a digital representation of the Mothership, along with a cute icon featuring Karan's face as avatar.

"What a day uh?" Amir loosened his uniform's collar and sighed.

"That was a hell of a fight. Did you see those destroyers? Those guns are big!"

"Indeed." Answered the woman, quickly comparing the destroyer's guns' calibre with her own mass driver turrets.

"I still don't get why these...what did you call'em?.. Taiidan... burned Kharak. I mean, why in the name of Sajuuk would you slaughter an entire world for something happened thousands of years ago?"

Karan quickly ran the Taiidan captain's interrogation recording once again. The image of a man covered in blood, wearing a gold and red uniform appeared in her mind. Through the pain, the man was tossing insults, trying to resist the terrible tortures the intelligence officers were conducting on him. She cut the feed, turning her attention back to Amir.

"Sometimes people become obsessed" she observed "they burn in hatred, in fear. As Intelligence showed us, their emperor seems pretty determinate in erasing us from the stars."

"Yes, they spoke about a treaty, didn't they? I wonder what was it about."

Karan did not answer. Shunting power to the hyperdrive, she began pre-jump checks.

Amir coughed lightly, then started talking about his crew's performance.

Since her integration into the Mothership, Karan had longed for human contact.

But being stuck in a tank with cables bolted in her head, she couldn't just walk into a mess hall looking for someone to talk with. Not that she could anyway, her being 'Command' and all.

With her family and associates killed on Kharak, she had very few people left.

Amir Somtaaw and Carol S'jet were two of her most trusted friends remaining.

They contacted her through a private address known only to them whenever possible.

Because of her situation, Karan was often unable to keep a meaningful conversation, but just listening to someone not barking orders or filling a technical report was enough for her.

Amir, a deck leader in the Mothership command section, was tasked with coordinating a quarter of the point defence turret crews dotting the hull of the ship, assigning priority targets and giving directions when Fleet Command did not intervene.

"Amir." She said, trusting the automated programs to sift the reactor readings alone.

"Do you trust me?"

The man stopped talking, staring quizzically at the screen.

"What you mean with that? Yes, I do trust you. And after today I'd say my faith is well put."

Karan sighed, letting the computer analyze the process. Immediately the engine cooling cycle started, cleansing the thrusters of dirt.

After the first days since she was sealed in the ship, she discovered she could force her old habits and human gestures in commands and electronic responses. She found that amusing.

"Amir. I swear. I will not fail you. Not a single one of you. I will guide the Kushan to the Homeworld. We will find Hiigara."

The man smiled gently, giving a confident look.

"I believe in you. Everyone here does. I know there will be hardships and sacrifices before us, but we will manage. We've always managed. We're Kushan after all, aren't we?"

Karan gave a faint laugh, her equivalent of a smile and contacted Fleet Intelligence as she realized the core was fully charged.

"It is time." She said to Amir.

"Indeed. See you on the other side then."

"This is Fleet Command to all ships: hyperspace core fully charged. Standby for jump."


End file.
